Using the dating app Grindr in the halls of the German parliament constitutes “work”, a Green party MP has argued.
Sven Lehmann, an MP for the ruling Green party, has argued that the use of the gay dating app Grindr within the German parliament constitutes “work”.
Lehmann also serves as Germany’s very first “Federal Government Commissioner for the Acceptance of Sexual and Gender Diversity“, a post created by the current leftist traffic light coalition under Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
According to a report by Bild, Lehmann has claimed that the use of Grindr within the German parliament is widespread, with some politicians even reportedly opting to use the app during plenary sessions.
“I was surprised at how high the impact density on Grindr is in the Bundestag,” the politician reportedly said in a recent podcast.
The Green politician however says that he does not see a problem with the prevalent use of the app, saying that politicians can gain valuable information through the platform on topics such as monkeypox.
“You just go through all the apps from time to time, including Grindr,” the MP said.
“Why not?” he added. “Grindr is also work.”
The declaration that the use of gay dating apps during a sitting of the German parliament constitutes work for politicians has been met with mixed reactions in the country, with some openly deriding the suggestion that swiping on dating apps at such times is acceptable.
“Dating apps are a private matter and should remain so,” fellow MP Florian Hahn from the Conservative Christian Social Union remarked. “When Mr Lehmann mixes his private and professional life, you have to ask yourself about his work ethic.”
However, according to a report from the German gay interest website Queer.de, the use of Grindr was not the only issue discussed on the podcast episode starring Lehmann, with the politician taking aim at the current handling of the monkeypox virus.
While the European experience has shown the disease disproportionately impacting gay men, the Green politician outright rejected the idea that either abstinence or monogamy was a possible solution to the current rapid spread of the disease.
Lehmann’s position stands in stark contrast with positions he held in the past during the COVID pandemic, at one point arguing that mandatory vaccination was “necessary” in order to help the country’s health workers.
The politician is also described as gossiping about his own dating and sex life with the podcast hosts, reportedly describing at one point how he had a one-night stand with a “very prominent person”. While the parliamentarian refused to go into much detail, he did apparently confirm to the show that the experience was very “hot”.